Unvaccinated people in Germany are to be excluded from non-essential stores, cultural and recreational venues, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said.
In addition, parliament will consider making coronavirus jabs mandatory from February as the country battles rising cases.
About 68.7% of the population in Germany is fully vaccinated, far below the 75% minimum ministers are aiming for.
‘Good news’ emerges in early Omicron data; one of world’s first confirmed cases of new variant claims he got in in London|coronavirus latest live
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Angela Merkel says the COVID situation in Germany is ‘serious’
The effort to get jabs into more arms will be boosted by adding dentists and pharmacists to those administering them.
Speaking after a meeting with federal and state leaders, Mrs Merkel said the measures were necessary amid concern hospitals could be overwhelmed.
Some hospitals in the south and east have transferred patients to other parts of Germany because of a shortage of intensive care beds.
The new Omicron variant is adding to health officials’ worries.
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2:40
COVID cases in Germany hit record high
By Adam Parsons, Europe Correspondent
There were two very big calls by the Germans today, and both of them are hugely controversial.
Which was the bigger? Probably the spectre of mandatory vaccination. Germany isn’t the first European nation to announce such a plan, with neighbouring Austria already saying its citizens must have taken the jab by February.
But in Germany, this is combustible. It’s not so long since Angela Merkel said she wanted vaccination to be voluntary. Not that’s been turned on its head, just as she is about to leave office.
Her successor, Olaf Scholz, has given the Bundestag a free vote on the issue, but is clearly putting his weight behind it.
It seems likely to pass. And then what? How do you police mandatory vaccinations? The rest of Europe is watching, interested in the precedence.
Then there’s the lockdown of the unvaccinated, a measure that’s clearly divisive and obviously stigmatises a slice of society.
Pretty much everyone knows this is an uncomfortable space for any government to occupy but, as with many other countries, there is a desperate desire to increase the percentage of the population that is vaccinated.
This isn’t subtle – more of a flying kick than a gentle nudge – but both Merkel and Scholz seem to agree that a desperate desire can only be met by desperate measures.
Merkel or Scholz are not renowned for big, bold, Boris Johnson-style bits of theatre. Neither of these moves will have come easily to either the new or old Chancellor. That tells you a lot about how worried Germany is.
Mrs Merkel said she was “depressed” by the strength of the fourth wave of infections in the country, adding she had been hoping a voluntary approach to immunisation would be more effective.
The situation regarding COVID in Germany is “very serious”, she added, describing the new measures as an “act of national solidarity”.
“The fourth wave must be broken and this has not yet been achieved,” she said.
More than 73,000 new infections were reported on Thursday, along with 388 deaths.
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People queue outside a vaccination centre in Hamburg. Pic: AP
Mrs Merkel is likely to have left office by February, and mandatory jabs will need to be debated in the Bundestag, following guidance from Germany’s Ethics Council.
She said she would vote in favour were she still a member of parliament.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz – who is expected to be elected as Mrs Merkel’s successor next week – has also backed the idea, as do most Germans, according to opinion polls.
“If we had a higher vaccination rate, we wouldn’t be discussing this now,” Mr Scholz said.
The new measures regarding shops and other venues are likely to come into effect in the coming days, once Germany’s 16 states have incorporated them into existing rules.
